Page 11 - IAV Digital Magazine #547

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Man In Wig Throws Cake At Glass Protecting Mona Lisa
PARIS -- A man seemingly dis- guised as an old woman in a wheelchair threw a piece of cake at the glass protect- ing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum and shouted at people to think of planet Earth.
The Paris prose- cutor's office said Monday that the 36-year-old man was detained fol- lowing Sunday's incident and sent to a police psychi- atric unit. An investigation has been opened into the damage of
cultural artifacts.
Videos posted on social media showed a young man in a wig and lipstick who had arrived in a wheelchair. The man, whose iden- tity was unknown, was also seen throwing roses in
the museum gallery to slack- jawed guests.
The cake attack left a conspicuous white creamy smear on the glass but the famous work by Leonardo da Vinci wasn't damaged.
Security guards were filmed escorting the wig- wearing man away as he called out to the sur- prised visitors in the gallery: “Think of the Earth! There are people who are destroy- ing the Earth! Think about it. Artists tell you: think of the Earth. That’s why I did this.”
Guards were then filmed cleaning the cake from the glass. A Louvre statement con- firmed the attack on the artwork involving a “patis- serie."
The 16th-century Renaissance masterpiece has
seen a lot in its over-500 years in existence.
The painting was stolen in 1911 by a museum employee, an event which increased the painting's interna- tional fame. It was also damaged in an acid attack perpetrated by a vandal in the 1950s, and has since been kept behind glass.
In 2009, a Russian woman who was angry at not being able to get French citi- zenship threw a ceramic cup at it, smashing the cup but not harming the glass or the painting.
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